So if you've read the news lately, or even if you just have a facebook account, you probably know why The New York Times is calling Republicans out for declaring war on women.
Republicans in the House of Representatives are mounting an assault on women’s health and freedom that would deny millions of women access to affordable contraception and life-saving cancer screenings and cut nutritional support for millions of newborn babies in struggling families. And this is just the beginning.
A declaration of war is an apt and amusing way to describe the right's recent obsession with de-funding Planned Parenthood, WIC and early childhood nutrition programs. These cuts, it seems, are made necessary by the literal wars declared on Iraq and Afghanistan.
I'd like to quote one the Republican's own back at them: Bring it on.
Fellow women (and those who would fight on our side) if Republican declare war on us and our bodies and our children, we must respond with our voices and with our votes. I don't know any women who would actually have sex with Republicans but I strongly encourage any who would to reconsider that, too. Not that sex should be considered a political act, but, given that a state of war has been declared, I just don't think fraternizing with the enemy is such a good idea.
My generation, especially, is often complacent, quick to forget that the rights we enjoy were hard-won by our mothers and their mothers. These rights were not always ours and they can be taken away if we allow them to be. Our political and personal power stems from the basic right to determine what happens to our bodies. Every woman, regardless of her economic situation, should have access to health care, contraceptives, and the proper nutrition for our babies before and after they are born.
They can say that women's health isn't a fiscal priority in a time of war, and what do we say in response? Bring. It. On.
Fight the good fight! Be careful though, not to presume too much on the self-interest of your sex. I can still remember my own deep disappointment -- and flat astonishment -- when I realized that not only were not all gay people progressives, but that there were such a thing as a gay Republican, or a gay racist, or a lesbian Baptist, etc. If the majority of American women, who are after all the majority of Americans, could be counted on to act in their own interest, and the interest of their children, there would be no such gryphons as Sarah Palin, Laura Ingraham, etc.
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